Search NASA⌕ Search
Home/Archive/DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI · 3685186

Technoeconomic Analysis Round Robin of a Retrofit of the Ivanpah Concentrating Solar Plant with a Molten-Salt System with Thermal Energy Storage

Zolan, Alexander [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000326017604)·Kler, Gino [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)]·Hamilton, William [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000244654239)·Quero, Manuel [Sunntics]·Wang, Ye [Australian National University]·Pye, John [Australian National University]·Sment, Jeremy [Sandia National Laboratories]
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

While the fidelity of technoeconomic analysis (TEA) models for concentrating solar thermal systems has improved in recent years, there is a lack of consensus on the specific inputs used to forecast performance of a newly built tower system due to a lack of validations and post-mortems available to the public. This effort is a joint initiative between multiple international organizations to validate and compare their TEA models. The specific case study is a proposed retrofit of one unit of the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System to include molten-salt storage, replacing the steam generation system with a molten-salt receiver, salt-to-steam heat exchanger train, and new balance of plant while keeping the existing steam turbine, solar field, and interconnection in place, using plant data for calibration. This manuscript discusses several of the agreed-upon assumptions for this study as well as a preliminary analysis from prior work that motivates the study.

Explore related subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGYconcentrating solar thermalpower towerretrofitstechnoeconomic analysisthermal energy storage

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Zolan, Alexander [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000326017604), Kler, Gino [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)], Hamilton, William [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000244654239), Quero, Manuel [Sunntics], Wang, Ye [Australian National University], Pye, John [Australian National University], Sment, Jeremy [Sandia National Laboratories]. 2026-09-02. Technoeconomic Analysis Round Robin of a Retrofit of the Ivanpah Concentrating Solar Plant with a Molten-Salt System with Thermal Energy Storage. https://doi.org/10.66816/po3283882

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

Discover connections

Turbines component14 SOLAR ENERGY subjectconcentrating solar thermal subjectpower tower subject

Connections use source metadata and explicit phrase matches, not verified experimental comparisons.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related discoveries

DOE OSTI2026

Heliostat sizing methodology for concentrating solar thermal industrial process heat projects

This study presents a method to obtain a heliostat size that minimizes the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) of a heliostat-based concentrating solar thermal system for applications of solar heating for industrial processes at operating temperatures from 565 to 1550°C. The method extends prior work by embedding a routine for system design that obtains near-optimal subsystem sizes, increasing the fidelity of drive cost functions, and adding an optical performance model to supplement the previously developed cost models, which we update to reflect current pricing trends. An illustrative business case is developed for Daggett, California, targeting specified annual thermal energy outputs of 50 to 400 GWh th . Optical performance is modeled using verified estimates from the literature. A surrogate heliostat cost model, derived from commercial heliostat designs and scaled for production volume, installation, and operations and maintenance costs, is used to develop cost functions. Results show that heliostat size strongly affects the LCOH, producing a characteristic U-shaped trend with a robust near-optimal window of 7-20 m 2 ; the heliostat size producing the lowest project cost in our study grows slightly as the project size increases, and is reduced as the operating temperature increases. The findings in this study are consistent with the general trend of smaller heliostats being deployed at existing projects for high-temperature industrial process heat and reflect the significant reduction in power electronics and other per-heliostat costs. The methodology we propose is general and can be tailored to revised cost curves as the technology continues to evolve.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Critical Review of Heliostat Design for Concentrating Solar Thermal Technologies

Heliostat designs have undergone a widespread and eclectic development process, with many unique designs demonstrated. However, recent developments do not show the overall cohort converging toward a globally accepted universal design. Here, this study characterizes heliostats by breaking down and evaluating design traits based on emergent patterns from a comprehensive compilation of known heliostat designs spanning several decades. Four main categories for evaluation emerged: heliostat base, heliostat primary axis, heliostat drive, and facet support. Each of these four categories is further defined by four subtypes so that all heliostats fall into a single subtype within each category. The classified heliostats are ranked, yielding several view slices into the heliostat compilation or a breakdown of heliostats by type. An analysis of the breakdown shows several trends: a scale-up of established designs, new approaches at small to medium scales, and a movement toward greater adoption of linear drives. These trends reflect the most meaningful contributing factors to a proposed trajectory for a new era of heliostat designs striving to meet widely considered cost targets of $\$$50/m 2 or $\$$75/m 2 .

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗